Dan Neil Reviews the 2016 Lexus RX

This is one of those times I am mystified by popular taste. The Lexus RX premium crossover sells about 100,000 copies a year, every year? Really?

But, in fairness, no crossover/SUV on the market is a beauty, due to packaging and performance constraints. By the time you accommodate all that, with a V6 engine, eight-speed transmission and all-wheel drive, you have two big, ugly boring boxes.

Two things that haven’t changed: First, its merely adequate handling; second, its cabin so rich and well stitched that it renders the first forgivable.

The showmanship of Neil’s writing confuses his message — does he like or dislike the new RX? His main complaints seem directed at the overall crossover segment, but his final verdict on the RX is hard to decipher.

That said, I did appreciate this passage:

The Lexus’s spindle grille—in F Sport Trim comprising a warped field of black plastic webbing, outlined in lustrous alloy lips—is the brand singularity, drawing us toward a Lexus badge with arrows pointing to it from all sides, including the LED headlamps and arrowhead pointed bezels of the cornering lamps. At night it looks like its own dealership.